Maryland Acoustic Monitoring Project

April 2024 Cruise Report

R/V Daiber

Lewes, DE

700 Pilottown Rd, Lewes, DE, 19958

Crew

Contact Information

  • (301) 938-0265 | ctribble@umces.edu
  • (267) 970-1973 | mobrien@umces.edu
  • (716) 381-2770 | djj63@cornell.edu
  • (607) 368-3609 | frc29@cornell.edu
  • (302) 396-8565 | jswallow@udel.edu
  • (610) 563-1040 | evanfal@udel.edu

MMM Cruise

Tuesday, 23rd April 2024

Conditions

Winds SW, wind speed 2.8 m/s, mainly SE swell, 9 second period, 65°F sunny, good visibility

Summary (EDT)

0630 Depart Lewes, DE

0826 Arrive at A-1M.

0837 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

0839 Depart A-1M.

0853 Arrive A-2M.

0855 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

0856 Depart A-2M.

0916 Arrive at A-4M.

0917 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

0930 Depart A-4M.

0939 Arrive at V4.

0941 UMCES team retrieves VR2AR and casts CTD.

0951 UMCES team re-deploys new VR2AR with a co-deployed LS-1X.

0952 Depart V4.

1021 Arrive T-2M.

1026 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

1027 Depart T-2M.

1041 Arrive T-1M.

1043 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

1044 Depart T-1M.

1103 Arrive T-3M.

1104 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

1105 Depart T-3M.

1112 Arrive T-3C.

1116 UMCES & Cornell team retrieves F-POD and VR2W, and UMCES team casts CTD.

1122 Depart T-3C.

1141 Arrive T-2C. 

1145 UMCES & Cornell team retrieves F-POD and VR2W, and UMCES team casts CTD.

1150 Depart T-2C.

1225 Arrive A-7M.

1228 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

1229 Depart A-7M.

1244 Arrive D2. 

1246 UMCES team casts CTD. UMCES & Cornell team unable to retrieve F-POD*.

*Acoustic release transponder communicated successfully with deployed AR, AR responded with range in meters, transponder then initiated release of rope and ran to completion, however mooring never surfaced. Release attempted multiple times and team theorized rope tangled upon release or with the amount of fouling observed on other devices, it is possible the amount of fouling hindered the release. Due to lack of time, grappling was not attempted. The Marine Mammal Monitoring (MMM) team will coordinate with the Fisheries Resource Monitoring (FRM) team to attempt grappling for the site while in the area for a pot cruise aboard the R/V Integrity.

1259 Depart D2.

1325 Arrive A-6M.

1328 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

1329 Depart A-6M.

1337 Arrive D1.

1339 UMCES & Cornell team retrieves F-POD, and UMCES team casts CTD.

1340 Depart D1.

1410 Arrive A-5C.

1413 UMCES team casts CTD. F-POD, C-POD, LS-1X, VR2W retrieval not attempted*.

*Due to time constraints, the capabilities of the vessel, and the complexity of the mooring configuration (see Figures 5 and 6 below) the field team decided a larger vessel is needed to recover the devices at a later time. The current mooring has the release in the center of three anchors, and it is likely the weight of all the anchors will be on the record line at once during recovery. If an A-frame was available recovery may have been possible, but the team had to rely on a capstan and pot block off the side of the boat. The MMM team plans to coordinate with the FRM team to utilize the R/V Integrity for recovery of this site.

1416 Depart A-5C.

1418 Arrive A-5M.

1419 Cornell team retrieves Rockhopper and UMCES team casts CTD.

1430 UMCES team deploys new (*) A-5C mooring (F-POD and VR2AR) at A-5M site.

1432 Depart A-5M (A-5C*)

1439 Arrive at V5.

1439 UMCES team retrieves VR2AR and casts CTD.

1445 UMCES team re-deploys new VR2AR with a co-deployed F-POD.

1447 Depart V5.

1457 Arrive at A-3M.

1459 Cornell team unable to retrieve Rockhopper* and UMCES team casts CTD.

*Acoustic release transponder communicated successfully with deployed AR, however the Rockhopper never surfaced. Biofouling on the units recovered earlier in the day were heavily matted with biofouling. Site A-3M is the shallowest Rockhopper site and the severe level of biofouling may have impeded the Rockhopper’s ability to return to the surface. When the unit eventually does surface it will ping it’s location via satellite.

1550 Depart A-3M.

1617 Arrive at T-1C.

1620 UMCES team casts CTD in original coordinates of site T-1C.

1622 UMCES team deploys new T-1C mooring (F-POD and VR2AR) in original coordinates of site T-1C.

For devices (F-POD, C-POD, LS-1X, VR2W) at T-1C* (offset T-1C site from OCT 2023 cruise) retrieval was not attempted*.

*Due to time constraints, the capabilities of the vessel, and the complexity of the mooring configuration (see Figures 5 and 6 below) the field team decided a larger vessel is needed to recover the devices at a later time. The current mooring has the release in the center of three anchors, and it is likely the weight of all the anchors will be on the record line at once during recovery. If an A-frame was available recovery may have been possible, but the team had to rely on a capstan and pot block off the side of the boat. The MMM team plans to coordinate with the FRM team to utilize the R/V Integrity for recovery of this site.

1624 Depart to Lewes.

1830 Arrive at Lewes.

Deployment & Retrieval Data Tables

APRIL 2024 -

OCTOBER 2023 -

Station Maps

OCTOBER 2023 - Static Deployment Map

Figure 1: Map of the PAM recording devices deployed in October 2023 (F-PODs only, green; F-POD, C-POD, LS1-X, and VR2 units, cyan; F-POD and VR2 units, red; Rockhoppers, dark blue; VR units only, black) within and surrounding the Maryland Lease Area (black outline; MARWIN region shaded pink).

OCTOBER 2023 - Interactive Deployment Map

April 2024 - Static Retrieval Map

Figure 2: Map of the PAM recording devices retrieved in April 2024 (F-PODs only, green; F-POD and VR2 units, red; Rockhoppers, dark blue; VR units only, black) within and surrounding the Maryland Lease Area (black outline; MARWIN region shaded pink).

April 2024 - Interactive Retrieval Map

April 2024 - Static Redeployment Map

Figure 3: Map of the PAM recording devices re-deployed in April 2024 (F-POD and VR2AR units, red; LS-1X and VR2AR units, black) within and surrounding the Maryland Lease Area (black outline; MARWIN region shaded pink).

April 2024 - Interactive Redeployment Map

Mooring Configuration Diagrams

New V5, T-1C, A-5C, and V4 Deployed April 2024 -

Figure 4: Diagram of mooring designs for the sites that were re-deployed in April 2024 on this research cruise. At sites V5, T-1C, and A-5C, an F-POD and VR2AR were co-deployed to detect echolocation clicks and acoustic fish tags. At site V4, an LS-1X and VR2AR were co-deployed to record audio recordings and detect acoustic fish tags.

A-5C and T-1C Deployed in October 2023 -

Diagram

Figure 5: Mooring configuration diagram for sites A-5C and T-1C deployed in October 2023. The LS-1X, F-POD, and C-POD were fixed on the same float line to increase the likelihood each of the hydrophones will record (LS-1X) or detect (F-POD, C-POD) the same dolphin vocalizations. The VR2W and acoustic release were fixed on an adjacent, attached mooring due to weight constraints having numerous devices on one line.

In the field

Figure 6: Mooring configuration for stations A-5C and T-11C pictured in the field in October 2023. The LS-1X, F-POD, and C-POD (far left) at A-5C were fixed on the float line with the LS-1X above the F-POD and C-POD. At T-1C the LS-1X was fixed below the F-POD and C-POD, due to the weight of the device observed deploying A-5C. The VR2W and acoustic release (far right) were fixed on the adjacent, attached mooring as shown in the diagram (float line for these devices not shown well in picture).

Field Photos

Figure 7: Captain Evan Falgowski (far left) and Tailwinds field team members Fred Channell, Derek Jaskula, and Mike O’Brien (far right) shown aboard the R/V Daiber prior to recovery of site A-1M at the beginning of the cruise.

Figure 8: UMCES team member Caroline Tribble shown holding the largest sea star found taking residence on one of the recovered Rockhopper units shown covered in biofouling in the lower left-hand corner of the image.

Figure 9: Cornell team member Fred Channell holding a sea urchin found on the same Rockhopper unit with the large sea star which had been deployed at site A-7M.

Figure 10: Rockhopper unit (right) and it’s acoustic release (left) surfaced following acoustic release being initiated at site T-1M.

Figure 11: Example of the severe biofouling that was observed on the recovered devices. Shown in both images are massive colonies of mussels on the EdgeTech© acoustic release and its floatation buoy at one of the Rockhopper site A-7M. This intense level of mussel colonization was seen at multiple sites.

Figure 12: Image showing the Ocean City Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) Real-Time Whale Buoy (RTWB) that our vessel passed during retrieval of site A-7M at approximately 12:34 PM EDT.

Figure 13: Image of the large sea star along with another smaller sea star found on a Rockhopper unit. Many of the smaller sized sea stars were observed on a majority of the Rockhopper units that were recovered.

Figure 14: Close-up image of the biofouling seen on one of the Rockhopper units, showing the diverse range of invertebrates that colonized during the winter deployment. Field team members tried to remove as much as possible prior to leaving sites and return the critters back to the sea.